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Galan (Earth-616)
Real Name: Galactus (formerly Galan) Nicknames: Ravager of Worlds, Devourer of Planets, The Big G Former Aliases: None known Other Current Aliases: Ashta (to the Korbonite race) Status Occupation: Planet Devourer, Third Force of the Universe (balance between Eternity and Death), Third Face of the Living Tribunal (representing Equity) Legal Status: Not applicable Identity: Known throughout the universe Marital Status: Marital status unknown Group Affiliation: Heralds of Galactus Base of Operations: Worldship (Taa II); though he is generally mobile throughout the universe, via his spherical starship, in search of suitable planets to consume. Origin Place of Birth: Planet Taa Known Relatives: Eternity, Death First Appearance: Fantastic Four #48 (1966) Origin: Super Villains Classic #1 (1981) History Galactus is the sole survivor of the universe that existed prior to the creation of the current universe. Originally Galactus was a humanoid named Galan, who was born on the planet Taa, a paradise-like world whose civilization is said to have been the most advanced of any of the known universe of that time. However, this universe was in its final stages of collapse. Originally, like all universes, this universe had been a "Cosmic Egg," a primal sphere of disorganized, dense, compact primordial matter. The sphere underwent a "Big Bang," an explosion that hurled the matter outwards, where much of it eventually condensed into stars and planets. This universe expanded in size for billions of years, and then contracted, undergoing a "crunch" over the following billions of years. All of the matter of that universe was plunging towards a central point, where it was collapsing into a new "Cosmic Egg." Taa's civilization was one of the last still in existence. Lethal radiation caused by the "Big Crunch" this universe was experiencing was wiping out all life across the universe. Galan, a space explorer, was dispatched to travel through the cosmos to find a means of saving Taa, but he found none. The radiation eventually killed off all but a tiny fraction of the population of Taa. Knowing their deaths were inevitable, Galan proposed to the remaining survivors that they die gloriously by piloting one of their starships directly into the heart of the "Cosmic Egg." As the starship containing Galan and his fellow survivors approached the focal point of the Big Crunch, the heat and radiation killed all the passengers except Galan, who strangely found himself filled with new energy. The Pheonix Force, the entity that represents the eternal cycle of death and rebirth, prevented Galan and his starship from being destroyed by the tremendous gravitational forces and heat they experienced. Within the Cosmic Egg the sentience of the dying universe (the previous Eternity) revealed itself to Galan, informing him that though they both would technically die, they would survive through an heir born into the next universe. The sentience of the previous universe merged itself with the mortal Galan and thus Galactus, ravager of worlds, was conceived. Eventually the "Cosmic Egg" underwent another "Big Bang," thus creating the current universe. Eternity and Death, the ethereal embodiments of the new universe, were created in this "Big Bang," and the newborn Galactus was simultaneously hurled outward in his recreated starship. The nascent Galactus drifted in his starship for eons as life began to come into existence in the universe, including the races that would give rise to the Elders of the Universe. Eventually the nascent Galactus's starship was sighted by one of the Watchers, an ancient race of beings who had undertaken to observe the events of the universe. This Watcher, who was not Uatu, the Watcher who observes Earth, drew the starship down to his planet to study it. There he learned that the being within it had vast, growing power, and would eventually have to consume worlds to satiate his hunger for energy. Realizing the danger the nascent Galactus posed to the cosmos, this Watcher considered destroying the being before he harnessed his full power, but instead decided to abide by the Watchers' oath of non-interference, and let the nascent Galactus depart in his starship. The nascent Galactus learned how to use his vast power, and created a suit of armor to help him regulate it. He then transformed the starship into a kind of incubation chamber, where Galactus spent centuries evolving into his current form. Finally, the incubation ship drifted into orbit around the inhabited planet Archeopia. The Archeopians themselves did not disturb the strange ship, but years later a marauding space fleet, nearing Archeopia and thinking Galactus's ship to be a weapon, attacked it. Galactus, his incubation finished, emerged, destroyed the fleet, and then, hungering for energy, consumed the biospheric energy of Archeopia. A small fleet of Archeopian ships managed to escape, but all life on the planet was destroyed. (The Archeopian race would later be fully exterminated by the living planet Ego). Over the following millennia Galactus built himself an immense starbase, the world-ship he calls Taa II, which engulfs the Archeopian solar system. Galactus also sought out planets rich in certain unknown energies that he consumed to sustain his life. During these many millennia Galactus consumed only planets uninhabited by sentient lifeforms, except for Archeopia, and many centuries passed between his "feedings". However, as ages passed, the intervals between feedings decreased considerably in length, and Galactus found himself needing to consume worlds inhabited by sentient races if he could find no other worlds possessing the energy he needs in time to sustain himself. Galactus has succeeded in suppressing his sympathy for intelligent beings like himself when he was Galan, and, believing himself to be a higher kind of being than they, is willing to destroy their lives to continue his own. Moreover, he is aware that he was created to fulfill an as yet unrevealed purpose that he believes will ultimately compensate the universe for all the destruction he wreaks. At one point Galactus threatened to destroy the planet Zenn-La, home of a civilized race. One of that world's inhabitants, Norrin Radd, persuaded Galactus to spare the planet by volunteering to become his "herald" and search out uninhabited worlds for him to consume. Galactus agreed, and transformed Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer. Eventually, however, Galactus grew determined to consume the energy-rich planet Earth. The Surfer rebelled as a result, and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four thwarted Galactus by threatening to use an alien device called the Ultimate Nullifier on him, a weapon that could kill even Galactus. Galactus was forced to vow to spare Earth, and he punished the Surfer by erecting an energy barrier that prevented the Surfer from leaving Earth. Despite his pledge to Richards, Galactus returned several times to Earth to consume it, but was always narrowly thwarted. Meanwhile, he consumed numerous inhabited worlds throughout the known universe to sate his hunger, and was feared as a menace to all known star faring races. Galactus also took on a succession of new heralds. During his last attempt to destroy Earth, Galactus had gone so long without "feeding that his energies were severely waning, and a large number of Earth's superhuman defenders actually succeeded in defeating him in battle. Galactus lay dying from lack of energy, but Reed Richards saved his life. The grateful Galactus pledged his friendship to Richards and sincerely gave his word never to attack Earth again. Galactus has steadfastly abided by this oath ever since. During this visit to Earth Galactus recruited his latest herald, Nova. Galactus continues to prey upon other worlds, and recently he destroyed the Skrull throneworld, thereby plunging the Skrull Empire into chaos. There is an account of a far distant alternate future, in which man no longer exists on Earth, and Galactus, therefore no longer feeling bound by his oath, consumes it at last. At some point afterward, Galactus was targeted by the alien organization Elders of the Universe, who believed his death would trigger a Big Bang and recreate reality. His former herald, Silver Surfer, saved him. Galactus was believed to have developed romantic feelings for his herald Nova. When Nova finally rebelled as his herald, Galactus created another in the alien Morg, who ultimately murdered Nova on his own volition. Morg in turn was defeated by the collection of his heralds, leaving Galactus alone again. More recently, Galactus' appetite became such that he would only eat on planets of sentient life. He began to consume more and more frequently, developing a mania. He created a new herald, Red Shift, to help him succeed in this. He approached Earth once more, and had to be driven off by a large contingent of Earth's superheroes, and Red Shift was defeated. Finally, he was repulsed by the Silver Surfer, who agreed once more to become Galactus' herald and to search for planets, this time of sentient life to consume. Almost immediately, the Silver Surfer led Galactus to the homeworld of the Shi'ar Empire, perhaps the most technologically advanced in the known universe, in hopes they would have the forces to repulse the planet devourer. The Shi'ar quickly joined with other races and several of Earth's superheroes to battle Galactus. During the conflict, the Silver Surfer managed to turn Galactus' own energy-siphoning machines on Galactus himself, fatally weakening him. Galactus died, warning that the madness which had consumed him was a precursor to another greater horror. As he passed away, Galactus was converted to energy by his own planet-destroying machines. As Reed Richards noted, the energy would radiate forever outward, so he could never again reform. Galactus' death allowed the being known as Abraxas to emerge from the concept of Eternity that embodies destruction. He soon began to cut a swath of terror through various alternate realities, including the murder of other versions of Galactus. He used the head of Galactus to target and home in on the prime reality Earth and to plant a mole in his version of the Herald known as Nova. On Earth, Abraxas attacked Uatu the Watcher and stole half of his signature medallion. Abraxas taunted the Fantastic Four with the inevitability of his coming, enticing the team to search for the Ultimate Nullifer, the clues to the location of which were scattered among alternate realities. Ultimately, the Four found the Nullifer when Abraxas suddenly appeared and stole it from them. Abraxas called forth an army of Novas to attack Earth, but the Fantastic Four held no hope of defeating him. Instead, Franklin Richards, the son of the Four members Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, combined his cosmic powers with those of his sister Valeria, reviving Galactus and thus restoring balance to Eternity, at the cost of burning out his powers. Galactus took the Nullifer from Abraxas, giving it to Mister Fantastic, who used the weapon, destroying himself and Abraxas. The result served to re-create reality in which Abraxas never existed, and since all that was had ended, all that is was realigned, allowing Mister Fantastic to survive along with all those who died in Abraxas' reign of terror. Characteristics Height: 28'9" (variable) Weight: 18.2 tons (variable) Eyes: Inapplicable Hair: Inapplicable Unusual Features: Galactus's base height diminishes by as much as 10.9 feet when he is greatly in need of life-giving energy. Galactus also has the ability the greatly increase his size and mass at will, once growing to a stature so great he eclipsed a sun. Additionally, Galactus' base size will increase if he "overeats", in an alternate reality where Galactus was consuming the universe Galactus was as large as a galaxy and growing. Although Galactus is usually represented in humanoid form, each sentient being perceives him having a form resembling his own. Hence, humans see Galactus in humanoid form, while an amoeba-like species, for example, would perceive Galactus in an amoeba-like form. Although as Galan, Galactus was indeed a humanoid, his true current form is unknown. Although it is not entirely clear why beings from different sentient races perceive Galactus differently; this unique trait is likely due to the mortal races of the universe lacking the sufficient level of consciousness and sensory perception to grasp his divine, or partially abstract, nature; thus the mortal being subconsciously projects an appearance similar to its own onto Galactus in an attempt to comprehend what they behold. Powers Strength Level: Incalculable; when sated Galactus posseses a level of strength beyond the human ability to measure or quantify. Additionally, Galactus can use the Power Cosmic to further enhance his strength to virtually infinite levels. Known Powers: Galactus posseses the immeasurable Power Cosmic. Galactus is able to employ the limitless cosmic energy within him to produce any effect he desires. Some of his more commonly employed abilities are the molecular restructuring, conversion or transmutation of matter, the projection of energy with incalculable concussive force and/or heat, the teleportation of objects (even entire galaxies) across space or even time, the erection of invincible energy-screens and force fields, the creation of interdimensional and intradimensional portals and/or wormholes, virtually unlimited telepathy and telekinesis, and cosmic awareness on a universal scale. Galactus has even shown the ability to resurrect the dead, manipulate mortal souls and recreate destroyed worlds in every detail. Even his heralds, whom he has endowed with a miniscule fraction of his awesome power, are able to manipulate matter and energy in ways far beyond human comprehension. Weakness: Cosmic Hunger; Galactus requires unknown energies obtainable only from a certain type of planets in order to sustain his life. The suitable type of planet need not be one where life is present, but it must have the potential to support life. When sated Galactus is effectively omnipotent; however, the longer he goes without feeding the more his strength and power wanes, indeed, just one month after consuming a suitable planet his power will have already been reduced exponentially (when the universe was still young, Galactus could go without feeding for a century before his hunger weakened him to a similar degree). In recent times Galactus has been known to go without feeding for several months at a time bringing him to the brink of death and reducing his power to such a degree he actually becomes vulnerable to attacks from superhuman teams such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Known Abilities: Galactus likely possesses the universe's greatest scientifically and technologically gifted intellects. Reed Richards has admitted an inability to truly comprehend even the most rudimentary devices found within Galactus' Worldship. The Worldship itself is a solar system-sized construct that is said to surpass any natural world in beauty and splendor yet within it housed knowledge (within its computer, see Korvac) and technology far beyond human comprehension. Miscellaneous Equipment: Galactus often employs his Elemental Converter when devouring planets to help him in the conversion of matter into energy. Although he does not require this device to devour planets and will forego its use in certain situations, it makes the conversion of energies more efficient. Galactus also wears a full-body suit of armor constructed from an unknown material of his own design that helps him to regulate and control his personal energy. If he were to remove the armor for an extended period, his vast cosmic energies could run rampant and potentially give him the appearance of a star. Transportation: Although Galactus is capable of space travel via his own power, he disdains the needless expenditure of power and prefers to travel in starships of his own design. Though Galactus has many different starships in his personal fleet his preferred long range vessel is his sphere-shaped starship (over a mile in diameter) which is capable of trans-light speeds and interdimensional travel. Galactus has even on rare occasions been shown to travel in his solar system-sized Worldship, Taa II. Weapons: Galactus often employs a robot called the Punisher, which possesses vast superhuman strength and speed, to battle adversaries whose power levels do not warrant his direct attention. Galactus also keeps in his possesion a weapon called the Ultimate Nullifier. This weapon has the ability to destoy any target the weilder can envision. In the hands of Galactus, due to his nearly omniscient nature and cosmic awareness, the Ultimate Nullifier is capable of destroying entire universes and even entire timelines. It was revealed in the Abraxas story arc that the Ultimate Nullifier is actually an aspect of Galactus himself. Trivia * The Galactus of the Mangaverse (Earth-2301) was a vast eye-like parasite that literally fed on planets through enormous city-sized tendrils. Where its tendrils touched the surface of a world, "spores" would be thrown off, and these spores took the form of monsters such as Fin Fang Foom. The Mangaverse equivalents of the Inhumans lived on Galactus' surface, as did a race of Lava Men and a Skrull enclave led by a Super Skrull. As Earth's heroes fought the spores, Galactus was finally drained of life by that reality's incarnation of Captain Marvel. * An entity named Gah Lak Tus threatened the Ultimate Universe in 2005-2006. It seeded planets with energy siphons that bore a visual resemblance to the helmet of the Marvel Universe Galactus. Related Articles * External Links * References * Marvel Directory ---- Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Bad Characters Category:Cosmic Beings Category:Black Eyes Category:No Hair Category:Silver Age Category:Heralds of Galactus